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Review added January 13, 2005.                           Godzilla :: DVD Review  

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Studio: Columbia TriStar >> Review Equipment
Video: 2.35:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) Length: 133 Minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kbps) En Subtitles: En
Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) En Disc Format: RSDL DVD-9
Video Format: PAL Disc Capacity Utilised: 6.49GB        
Layer Change: 54:33 Region Coding: 4
Average Bit-Rate (A+V): 5.33Mbps  
     
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:: The Film ::

 
 

>> Skip to Audio/Video Details

Following the modest successes 'Universal Soldier' and 'Stargate', and the incredible success of 'Independence Day', Columbia TriStar commissioned the producer/director duo of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin to produce a summer blockbuster, and to hopefully repeat the success of 'Independence Day'. Godzilla was the result, going head to head with the summer's other would-be blockbuster, 'Armageddon'.

While 'Armageddon' went on to become 1998's summer success, Godzilla bombed, and it really isn't hard to see why. Godzilla's basic premise is silly, but certainly capable of entertaining (just ask Japanese studio Toho), but this film simply fails to capitalise on the franchise's potential. The script is strictly average, but its dialogue is truly awful, even by summer blockbuster standards. 
 



The film's special effects are also of surprisingly poor quality: the kiss of death for a popcorn blockbuster. The cast, in the form of Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno and Hank Azzaria do an admirable job (the less said about Maria Pitillo the better), but can't salvage the film. Watch at your own risk, and don't say you haven't been warned!
 
  :: Video ::
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This 2.35:1 anamorphically-enhanced transfer comes to us from Columbia TriStar, the people behind many of the best DVD transfers. While this isn't a bad transfer, it's far from the best I've seen from Columbia TriStar, and was a definite disappointment. The print used was in immaculate condition, with hardly a nick or speck to be seen. Colour saturation was also very good, with colours appearing natural, although skin-tones occasionally took on an ever so slightly yellow hue.

Aliasing wasn't a problem and the picture is usually sharp, although fine detail on actors' faces cannot be made out as clearly as I would like. The film's constant darkness, rain and general murkiness often makes the sharpness of the picture difficult to determine. Blacks are poorly rendered, appearing dark gray rather than black and grain is occasionally prominent. Disappointingly, shadow detail is frequently poor to non-existent; detail is either clearly visible or completely obscured. This may well be an artistic or technical decision on the part of the film's makers: a technique common to CGI-oriented films used to cover up minor effects flaws.

There are no significant blocking compression artefacts to be seen, although the frequent smoke and rain often appears slightly unnatural, and digital 'crawl' can be seen in several scenes, as at 60:10 where a wall positively crawls with digital noise. On a relative scale, this is a fine transfer, but a definite step down from the very best I have seen. Four stars.
 

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  :: Audio ::
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This Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is certainly impressive, with constant and aggressive use of all channels, although a lack of integration makes it a somewhat wearying experience after prolonged exposure. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, with well-integrated, natural-sounding ADR dialogue and little in the way of centre channel pegging. The front soundstage is nicely cohesive, with the front three channels blending seamlessly together and constantly active, creating an engaging and convincing front soundstage. The surround and LFE channels, however, do not blend with the front channels at all well, constantly drawing attention away from the front soundstage.

The LFE channel contains some mighty slabs of bass well below 30Hz, but seems somewhat bloated, with a tendency to overwhelm the other channels. The surround channels are constantly active, containing too many full-range split-surround effects to count, although these too were several dB too loud for my taste, frequently becoming distracting. With some tweaking, this becomes a fine soundtrack, although the poor integration of the LFE and surround channels in its unaltered state count against it.

Had the surround and LFE channels integrated as well as the front channels, this soundtrack would certainly be worthy of five stars, but I can only give it four. I'm sure this soundtrack's aggressive LFE and surround channels will be welcomed by many, but after the initial thrill, may well begin to grate.
 

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All material in this site copyright Adam Barratt

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